About Me

Known principally for his weekly political columns and his commentaries on radio and television, Chris Trotter has spent most of his adult life either engaging in or writing about politics. He was the founding editor of The New Zealand Political Review (1992-2005) and in 2007 authored No Left Turn, a political history of New Zealand. Living in Auckland with his wife and daughter, Chris describes himself as an “Old New Zealander” – i.e. someone who remembers what the country was like before Rogernomics. He has created this blog as an archive for his published work and an outlet for his more elegiac musings. It takes its name from Bowalley Road, which runs past the North Otago farm where he spent the first nine years of his life. Enjoy.

Bowalley Road Rules

The blogosphere tends to be a very noisy, and all-too-often a very abusive, place. I intend Bowalley Road to be a much quieter, and certainly a more respectful, place.So, if you wish your comments to survive the moderation process, you will have to follow the Bowalley Road Rules.These are based on two very simple principles:Courtesy and Respect.Comments which are defamatory, vituperative, snide or hurtful will be removed, and the commentators responsible permanently banned.Anonymous comments will not be published. Real names are preferred. If this is not possible, however, commentators are asked to use a consistent pseudonym.Comments which are thoughtful, witty, creative and stimulating will be most welcome, becoming a permanent part of the Bowalley Road discourse.However, I do add this warning. If the blog seems in danger of being over-run by the usual far-Right suspects, I reserve the right to simply disable the Comments function, and will keep it that way until the perpetrators find somewhere more appropriate to vent their collective spleen.

Followers

Monday, 18 February 2013

Whither Goest Thou, Joseph Ratzinger?

Quo Vadis? Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff in six centuries to permit any power but Death itself to precipitate the processes of the Petrine Succession.

“UPON THIS ROCK I will build my church.” Not from these
words, alone, does the Catholic Church trace its universal authority. But
Jesus’s bestowal of the name “Peter” or Petros(the Greek word for “rock”) upon Simon
Bar-jonah, the first of his disciples to recognise him as the Christ, is by far
the most familiar justification for what Catholic scholars call the “Petrine
Succession”.

The full quotation from the Book of Matthew bears repeating.
When Jesus asks his followers “Who do you say that I am?”, only Simon answers
‘correctly’. “You are the Christ,” says the fisherman, “Son of the living
God.”Blessing him, Jesus goes on to
offer his famous benediction:

“And I say also
unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

As anyone who has
ever visited the Vatican will tell you, the papal symbol of the crossed keys
are everywhere. That’s because, according to Catholic tradition, the Bishopric
of Rome (which, by virtue of Rome’s supremacy, confers leadership of the entire
Church) has been passed, through God’s divine guidance, directly and in
unbroken succession from Jesus’s right-hand-man to the present Bishop of Rome,
Joseph Ratzinger – Pope Benedict XVI.

The very same
pontiff who, on Tuesday morning, stunned the entire, one-billion-strong,
Catholic Church by announcing his abdication.

Can a Pope really
do that?

Well, it has been
done before. Nearly 600 years ago Pope Gregory XII relinquished the papal
throne – but only because the two other princes of the church who were at that
time also claiming to be Pope had bigger armies at their backs. Since 1415,
however, the pontificate has only been vacated when God called the incumbent
home.

Given the
proposition that it is God, himself, who guides the deliberations of the
College of Cardinals (one of whose number will become the next Pope) this seems
only right and proper. After all, when Simon identified him as the Christ,
Jesus said: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.”

The Petrine Succession: [T]hou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. - Matthew 16:18

In other words
the authority of the “rock”, upon whom Jesus would build his church, was not
the product of Simon-Peter’s own will – born of flesh and blood – but of the
will of God. Peter’s authority is God’s authority. If it were otherwise the
Petrine Succession would make no sense.

So, is it really
possible to step away from God’s will? Is the pontificate an office from which
one can calmly announce one’s resignation? Is being the Pope just like being a
Chief Executive? And the Papacy nothing more than a job?

Pope Benedict’s
predecessor certainly didn’t think so. As Pope John-Paul II’s body was slowly
and agonizingly broken on the cross of Parkinson’s Disease, the doughty Polish
pontiff wore his pain as a blessing, saying it brought him closer in spirit to
the suffering of Christ.

How many times
must he have recalled the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but
thine, be done.”

Dame Lindsay
Freer, speaking on behalf of the Auckland Catholic Diocese, told TV3’s Firstline: “I think that Pope
Benedict has clearly become frailer, and it is a huge burden of office that he
carries … I think he feels that out of respect for that office and the ministry
that’s been entrusted to him, it’s time for somebody younger, stronger to take
over.”

But that would
make the Petrine Succession a purely human construct, and the Pope nothing more
than a holy CEO.

7 comments:

alwyn
said...

I suppose that the Pope could simply reply, and probably would, something like.I have come to this conclusion, after much prayer and in the knowledge that God desires that the head of his church must have the energy and health to lead the church.Well something like that anyway. After all, who can possibly prove He didn't?

I can do better than that and who is to say... According to Catholic legend as Ratzinger was walking in the Vatican Gardens he encountered Jesus walking in the opposite direction. And Jesus told him I've come to tell you to give it away...and who can prove otherwise..although of course he might be the CEO of the great corporation that is Vatican Bank...

Really, who cares?Don't encourage them (the Catholic church) by giving them attention.Why pander to a pre-medieval mindset?

The media loves the pageantry and rituals of the Vatican, and quarter informed speculation on it. But the Vatican only has power over people who give it to them , at least in places like NZ. Even in places like Ireland, their power has greatly diminished.

The Catholic church like most (all?) organised religion, has never been a real force for good, though it has often been a force for order.And disorganized religion is just superstition. (Organised religion is superstition plus control).

Respecting peoples' religion mean acknowledging their right to have it, not pretending you think there is anything to it.